


A Stain Upon My Soul

by SalamanderInk



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Dark Fairy Tale Elements, Horror, M/M, Soul Bond, Soul Cannibalism
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-11
Updated: 2019-06-11
Packaged: 2020-04-24 18:40:07
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 948
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19179148
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SalamanderInk/pseuds/SalamanderInk
Summary: Driven to madness by his grief and unrequited love, Loki has committed the unforgivable. If the Man of Iron had his heart yet would not give him his own, then would it not be onlyfairto take his soul in return?Deep within the God's core Tony Stark's soul bides its time. Ever had it been faced with unfathomable tasks and impossible odds, and yet getting free may prove even more difficult this time.At the heart of the castle, a soulless body yet breathes, the subject of desire of two souls sharing the same skin.How indeed can this not end in tragedy?





	A Stain Upon My Soul

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Raven_Ehtar](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Raven_Ehtar/gifts), [jaxonkreide](https://archiveofourown.org/users/jaxonkreide/gifts).
  * Inspired by [All You Had to Do...](https://archiveofourown.org/works/18855307) by [Raven_Ehtar](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Raven_Ehtar/pseuds/Raven_Ehtar). 



> This is for Ehtar, who first wrote the Soul Cannibalism story, and Jax who then made it _even worse_. So here's the proof that you can make a happy ending with _everything_ (looking at you Jax).  
> This was written pretty much entirely in the Discord's Sprint Channel (because, sadly, I write anywhere _except_ on my wip's document, apparently), and with a bit of fluffing up, here's the proof that I actually can write short things, and quickly too. Somehow.

In a realm no one stepped foot in, a dark castle stood. A dreary crumbling thing that no hope or joy could ever dream to reach.  
There, in the heart of its heart was the only room that received light. In its center was a pedestal and upon the pedestal a coffin made of glass and the purest crystal.  
And in the coffin, the heart of the beast resting in an eternal sleep.  
Tony Stark, or rather his body. Still alive and yet without a soul to animate it.  
Had he been of a mind to see the humor in the situation, he might have pointed out the irony of being laid out like a sleeping Snow White awaiting her prince’s True Love Kiss when it was the prince’s unrequited love that made him steal his soul in the first place.  
And yet, Loki still seemed just as trapped as he was, lurking, haunting the castle like a monster prowling his cage, and every so often coming to visit his wilting rose under its glass casing.  
The beast to his sleeping beauty.  
And yet, of the two, it was still Loki who slept the most.  
Tony’s soul is always awake, still trapped inside Loki’s heart, fighting an impossible battle against inhuman odds, an endless struggle to keep himself himself, to salvage his own soul from the corrosive influence of Loki’s, a desperate attempt, unmoored as he was, a raft against the might of an Ocean.  
His only moments of peace, if they could be called such, are the moments where Loki dreams. In Morpheus’ Lands, they meet, they fight, they talk.  
They bask in each other’s presence, the only other living being they can see in their mutual prison.  
They rest.  
Loki loves those moments as much as he hates them.  
In sleep he can speak with Tony. A living,vibrant Tony, the one he fell in love with.  
Not one as empty as his husk, a mere simulacrum of the man he used to be.  
And the Tony inside him was his, finally his own and yet wasn’t. He still didn’t love him.  
He never would, Loki knew, just as he knew he could never forgive what he had done to him.  
But soon, the bright golden soul would dissolve into his own. And then, what would love matter anymore? The process had already started and it soothed something deep inside him, just as much as it made him grieve.  
Tony Stark would always be a part of him.  
Except that Tony was smart and resourceful, and being pitted against insurmountable odds was commonplace for him, as was finding solutions to hopeless situations.  
So as Loki had taken his soul, so would he take Loki’s.  
Thus little by little, as days wore on and Loki woke and prowled the castle, Tony nibbled at him from the inside.  
And as much as his soul was lost to Loki’s, so did Loki’s lose to his...  
And instead of dissolving into his captor, he instead remained separate...  
But there was a cost to it. With as much as he took from Loki, he couldn’t help but begin to understand him, to feel as he felt, think as he did.  
He was still himself… And yet changed.  
He started to care, started to forgive the unforgivable.  
He started to look forward to their shared nights with less reluctance, less self-disgust.  
At some point he started to wonder if he truly missed the exterior world.  
And at some point he realized that the only thing he regretted still was the fact that he could never truly kiss Loki.  
Never wake in his arms.  
Never feel his touch.  
The constant gnawing at his soul was wearing on him.  
He knew he didn’t have much longer until both their halves became identical. And he knew that when that happened he would disappear.  
And Loki would be alone again.  
The idea of his captor watching over his husk, forever grieving wrenched at his heart.  
He would deserve it, certainly, and yet...  
So, on one lonely dusk, the same as any other, he wrestled control over Loki’s body. Just the once was all he needed, just one moment of surprise for him to implement his plan. Loki didn’t manage to fight him off until he was bent over his own glass coffin, his soulless husk resting before him. Breathing and yet strangely diminished, as every corpse is.  
He allowed himself on last bitter smile, one last moment of mourning before closing Loki’s eyes and closing the last few inches.  
He kisses him. Himself, who he was, the one Loki loved so much. (The one he wasn’t sure he could ever be again.)  
And the body breathed him back in.  
Loki staggered back, feeling wrong wrong wrong.  
Empty.  
And Tony finally gasped in a real breath, with his own lips, his own lungs...  
Blinked his eyes open.  
One eye had green staining it.  
His body was weak from weeks of inactivity, and yet he still had the strength to smile.  
“Loki...”  
He raised his hand, and Loki was helpless to resist, following the siren song of the man he loved more than anything.  
The man he kept losing again and again.  
Tony raised his hand and laid in on Loki’s smooth cheek. He saw now, a golden brown stain in a green eye, and smiled with satisfaction. Loki was his.  
“How!”  
Loki was bowed over him, clinging, a sob choking him, mangling his words.  
“How did you get free?”  
Tony laughed, freely, kindly, for the first time since his dear friend turned to him with eyes aggrieved and maddened.  
“All I had to do...  
Was love you.”

**Author's Note:**

> So I also have my first fannart with this story! Jax drew it for me, and I will link it [here](https://jaxonkreide.tumblr.com/post/185526859604/fanart-for-a-stain-upon-my-soul) once I've found the link for it and got an actual web connection with some actual wifi that will help me get to it ( ~~R.I.P. R.I.P R.I.P.~~ )


End file.
